


quo vedius?

by asexuelf



Category: Dragon Age II
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Friendship, Genderqueer, Intersex, M/M, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Non-Traditional Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Queer Themes, Tevinter Culture and Customs, Thedosian Culture and Customs, Trans
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-01
Updated: 2019-10-01
Packaged: 2020-11-09 10:40:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,019
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20852081
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/asexuelf/pseuds/asexuelf
Summary: When Hawke goes into heat on a trip to the Wounded Coast, they must find a way to get her home.





	quo vedius?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> title is a play on 'quo vadis?' which mostly means "where are you going". it'll make more sense after reading the chapter 😅
> 
> i have no idea where this fic is going, but i needed something to tinker on while i'm working on a few of my other chapter fics/series. and what else is better for that than a self-indulgent omegaverse fic?
> 
> enjoy!

"I will take first watch. You should rest."

Hawke glances at Fenris gratefully, a smile on her tense face. She's subdued and quiet - and little wonder, too. The omega's scent has been strong ever since they left, bright and alluring in a way that had Fenris averting his eyes politely, trying to ignore the way his mouth watered. He ought to have said something, he realizes now, watching his friend attempt a feeble nest in her tent. Hawke had been caught completely unaware by her heat and now the party is stuck here until further notice.

Luckily, it's only himself, Aveline, and Anders accompanying her. Aveline, like Hawke, is an omega, and Anders - well, Fenris isn't sure. He's never bothered to get close enough to scent him and it's hard to catch a whiff of him now through the overwhelming scent of _ Hawke _ that's all around them. Not that it would mean much, Fenris rationalizes.

After all, it's not exactly possible to smell what _ he _ is in a world that consists of alphas, betas, and omegas. Perhaps Anders is the same.

The delta sighs and sits down on a nearby log. The scent is less overpowering here, by the small pot over the fire, but Hawke still lingers, a little floral and a lot sickly sweet. Even hidden away in her tent, the smell escapes. He'll have to be very careful to watch for bandits and the like that will be drawn to the scent of vulnerable omega. Hawke can still fight - estrus cycles are not what some knotheaded fools believe them to be - but she's feverish and likely in pain by now, cramping and miserable. It's his responsibility as her friend to protect her.

Aveline, her own marigold and citrus scent entirely unaffected, stands and takes a bowl of whatever is bubbling over the fire to Hawke's tent, calling behind her, "Thank you, Fenris!" He's sure she'll be taking second shift, but Fenris can spend days awake. He'll let her get rest in case Hawke's heat triggers her own. It's only right.

The mage doesn't escape into his own tent or follow behind Aveline. He plops down on the log next to Fenris, coatless for the first time since Fenris has met him, and starts to rummage about for a bowl to ladle food into. Fenris finds him a bit foolish for removing his armor, but the coat was likely tucked away into Hawke's nest by now, along with everyone else's sleeping bags. Fenris had little to give her, but he gave what he had, even handing over the thin tunic he wore under his armor. The leather and metal sticks to his skin uncomfortably, but Hawke is in more pain now than he is.

He won't complain.

Anders seems to be in the same boat, looking over his shoulder nervously before leaning forward and pouring a bit of broth and what looks like rabbit meat into his bowl. As he closes the small pot, the small puff of air it releases kicks his scent up in Fenris' face, somehow more brilliant than even Hawke's, though it's clear the healer isn't in heat (or rut, for that matter).

The mage's scent is sharp and herbal - a beta. He's always so firey, so fierce, so _ passionate _… Despite his hatred for dynamic stereotypes, Fenris had guessed him an omega. Betas are, in the eyes of the Tevinter Chantry, the Maker's mediators, ready and willing to soothe any situation they come across. They make good merchants and better messengers, sometimes even tax collectors. Where Southern omegas are pets and slaves, betas in nearly all of Thedas are servants.

Anders doesn't seem the type.

Fenris had labelled him an omega, like Hawke, like all the upper class of the South, to go with the power he holds as a mage - or perhaps an alpha. It would suit his obsession with Tevinter. But the scent doesn't give much to Fenris information wise, like he knew it wouldn't.

Sharp, but not sour. Biting, but not spicy. It's somehow a loud and feeble scent all at once. Not floral, but still with that scent of _ green _ and something like electricity. Like lightning and woodsmoke and fields of wet grass.

Perhaps he's like Fenris, then? Not a beta at all; or even a beta by choice. Fenris knows he isn't alone in denying biology - how else would there be a name for what he is? - but he's never actually _ met _ another delta before. Just a couple of gammas and an omega by choice.

But focusing so hard on the biology of strangers is a little creepy and a lot rude, so Fenris shakes the thoughts away entirely. It is harder to shake the scent, however. It's just crisp and lovely and … refreshing? It seems to clear Fenris' mind and make focusing harder all at once.

"Are you seriously _ scenting _ me right now?"

Fenris freezes, eyes darting in the mage's direction but avoiding looking directly at him. "I- apologize."

"I'll bet." He doesn't sound convinced. When Fenris spares a glance at his face, the man is sneering. "I'm just shocked you aren't over there sniffing at Hawke! You alphas catch one whiff of something nice and it's perv city-"

"I am no alpha."

That stops Anders short. "Oh?"

"I am a delta."

The mage is silent for a moment. "Er- Is that a Tevinter thing? I haven't heard of it." 

Fenris isn't sure either. He doesn't know if his dynamic is regional or cultural or- or anything. He chose it. That is all. "It's simply what I am."

"Well, alpha or not, you can't just go around-" He waves his hand. "-_ scenting _ people. Especially given your treatment of me in the past."

"You are the one that instigates those arguments," Fenris reminds him. "I bare you no ill will. But again, I apologize. This behavior was deeply inappropriate and I will have a better handle on myself in the future."

Anders stares at him like he's grown another head, but he doesn't look quite so hostile anymore. "Er, alright. Didn't expect that to be handled so quickly."

Fenris shrugs. "I'm not a fan of alphas any more than you are. And probably for much better reasons, too." Alphas themselves were fine, usually, in Fenris' experience, but the power they held over other dynamics could not be denied. At least in Tevinter. Here in the South was… different. "I was only trying to tell your dynamic. It was very rude of me to do so."

Anders shrugs in return. "People have a hard time placing me. And good! All of this is nonsense to me half the time."

"I quite agree," Fenris sighes. "But that doesn't stop the rest of the world from turning the way it does. I've never even met another delta - just people who think I ought to be the _ obedient alpha _ I was born to be. Nevermind the omega traits I have as well…"

"Oh! You're twice-born?"

"If that is the southern term, yes. In Tevinter, it's typically called 'in between' or _ vedius_. That is, if people even know about it."

"...Is that what delta is? Someone in the middle?"

Fenris wrinkles his nose in thought. "Perhaps? _ Vedius _ is my biology. Delta is who I am."

Anders looks into the fire. "...I like that."

It's better than Fenris usually receives. If it wasn't an odd look or a somewhat hostile comment about 'changing things that don't need to be changed - what's next?', it was confusion or even blatant (and creepy) arousal. But Anders seems to understand somehow.

"There are other people too," Fenris says a bit pointedly. He doesn't usually feel the need to explain himself - and nor does he now, not really, but he knows somehow that he must tell Anders this. "People like me, who deny biology and the rules society places on our parts. There are gammas, deltas, even people who are assigned one dynamic and move to the other…"

Anders is quiet for a moment, the burning firewood adding even more woodsmoke to his scent. "I've met people who changed their dynamic, I think. Being a healer, you run into all sorts." He turns away, but angles his body towards the delta beside him. "I'm a beta, but… I'm not sure I agree. Does that make sense?"

"It does." Fenris takes a chance and sits closer. Anders doesn't scoot away. "I didn't agree with being an alpha - but when I was made to be an omega instead…" He shakes his head. "I'm neither. Or both, perhaps. Something always felt missing, somehow, even in those moments when all should have been right."

"I understand completely." Anders is quiet again, contemplative. His eyes find Fenris', gauging him, the firelight revealing little flecks of gold. "My partner Karl was an alpha. They said he was beta, but… We both knew otherwise. He marked me, you know? A mating bite, right here. Maybe there isn't a scar left behind to tell the world, but we knew it meant something. I'll always know."

"I'm sorry for your loss."

Anders shakes his head. "You aren't. To be sorry for Karl's death, you'd have to be sorry for the subjugation of southern mages. That's hardly your fault to apologize for and even if it was, you'd say it was necessary." Those gold flecks turned to something glittering and blue, like lightning across water.

"I can feel sorrow at your pain still. I am intelligent enough to know that your mate's death was pointless."

Anders scoffs. "Pointless. It all is."

Fenris isn't sure what he means exactly, but the tone frightens him a bit. What does _ all _ mean? The Circle? Mating? Life? "Was loving him pointless?"

"...Maybe." Anders bows his head and sighs. "He died because of me. By my hand just as much as a Templar's."

"But he died having loved you. Perhaps that meant more to him than otherwise." Fenris shakes his head. "I'm stepping out of bounds… I apologize. It's… I understand. The tale is a long one, but believe me when I say I understand."

Anders looks at him, then flinches. 

Fenris hurriedly glances over his shoulder to see nothing there. He shoots Anders a look of confusion.

"Sorry," he whispers. "I'm just confused by you. You hate mages but you're perfectly kind to the individual mage."

"I don't hate mages, healer." Fenris opens his palm and stares at the glowing lines that marr his skin. Their light casts a greater shine now that the sun has begun to set. Like a fungus in a cave, climbing up through the cracks. Bright and infectious.

"Just magic. The thing that makes us what we are."

"Do not sound so _ put upon _. If you want your fugitive slaves to like magic more then heal what magic has done to us. To me."

A silence passes over them where Fenris' gut drops. He knows he's said the wrong thing. A part of him fears Anders' response, but the greatest part of him - the truest part - preens. He has spoken his mind. He meant what he said even if those around him disagree. It's such a simple thing, but it tastes like victory.

Finally, Anders stands and sighs. He seems unsure for a moment, pulled between Fenris and his tent, but finally turns towards the delta looking up at him.

"I wish I could," he whispers. Those blue flecks shine across his skin, crackling in the air between them. When he speaks, it's a rumble like stormclouds that escapes him, not voice.

"SLAVERY IS AN INJUSTICE," the spirit tells him. "YOU WILL HAVE JUSTICE. MAY ALL THE MALEFICAR OF TEVINTER KNOW MY RAGE. MAY THEY SUFFER AS ALL BENEATH THEM HAVE SUFFERED."

The blue glow fades and Anders is left behind, looking ragged and orange as he stumbles. "For now, we must fight for the people in Kirkwall. But tomorrow - as many tomorrows as it takes - we will take to Tevinter."

Fenris stares in shock. He doesn't know how to respond. Anders saves him the trouble by limping off to his tent and remaining there throughout the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i've got bits more written but tbh never be afraid to shoot me ideas for what you'd like to see in this one - or even write your own fic based on mine! :o i'm always down to clown
> 
> but hey - thanks for reading !! 💓


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